Mic / Mixer setup

longgun · #1 11-28-2011, 08:31 PM

All,

I have just purchased a mic kit and should be here today or tomorrow. My question is what is / are the best mixers to run your mics into?

Personally, I have never done this, so please excuse my ignorance on this....do I need an xlr input for every mic? can I put them all into one, like on an m-box mini?

Will have the cables and mic kit shortly, just wondering how to use them correctly.

Thanks guys.

tard · #2 11-28-2011, 09:01 PM

1 mic per channel so you can adjust gain, tone, volume, effect, etc for each one separately, personally i like allen&heath mixing boards and have a miz wizzard 16 channel model which has great onboard effects,6 aux sends, is still rack mountable even with 16 channels and big enough to do the whole band.

Bo Eder · #3 11-28-2011, 11:02 PM

Allen & Heath are great boards. What you're looking for is a mixer that can handle the signal level coming from the drum mics. I wouldn't go less than a Mackie - I use the Mackie 1604VLZ. An even better one would be the Yamaha O1v96 digital console. Do not go cheap - the circuitry will not be up to the task at hand. The console is really the heart of the system, so it must be solid.

longgun · #4 11-28-2011, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tard

1 mic per channel so you can adjust gain, tone, volume, effect, etc for each one separately, personally i like allen&heath mixing boards and have a miz wizzard 16 channel model which has great onboard effects,6 aux sends, is still rack mountable even with 16 channels and big enough to do the whole band.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Eder

Allen & Heath are great boards. What you're looking for is a mixer that can handle the signal level coming from the drum mics. I wouldn't go less than a Mackie - I use the Mackie 1604VLZ. An even better one would be the Yamaha O1v96 digital console. Do not go cheap - the circuitry will not be up to the task at hand. The console is really the heart of the system, so it must be solid.

Thanks for the advice guys. Could you list maybe 4 or 5 that would be solid options? I'd like to begin my search. Also, I know I sound like I'm begging, could you put in acceptable price ranges? Thanks

audiotech · #5 11-28-2011, 11:15 PM

First of all, what's your budget? Secondly how many inputs do you need now and how many can you foresee needing in the future? In other words, are you thinking of just miking your drums or the entire group? Third is this mixer going to be situated at one location, such as your home, or will it be traveling to gigs with you? Are any of your micropjhones condenser mics that will need "phantom power" requirements?

There are more questions, but these need to be answered up front.

Dennis

longgun · #6 11-28-2011, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiotech

First of all, what's your budget? Secondly how many inputs do you need now and how many can you foresee needing in the future? In other words, are you thinking of just miking your drums or the entire group? Third is this mixer going to be situated at one location, such as your home, or will it be traveling to gigs with you? Are any of your micropjhones condenser mics that will need "phantom power" requirements?

There are more questions, but these need to be answered up front.

Dennis

I'd like to keep the price under $300.

# of inputs should remain about the same....I'd say 6-8 max

Right now, just the drums for home recording...no traveling

yes, i will need "phantom power" for at least two overheads.

Thanks again.

rmandelbaum · #7 11-28-2011, 11:24 PM

audiotech, as his name would imply ;-) is dead on.

I would ad, is this live sound or are you looking to do multi track recording with it?

Bo Eder · #8 11-29-2011, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longgun

I'd like to keep the price under $300.

# of inputs should remain about the same....I'd say 6-8 max

Right now, just the drums for home recording...no traveling

yes, i will need "phantom power" for at least two overheads.

Thanks again.

You know, for under $300, you can find yourself a nice Mackie 1402VLZ on eBay. It'll have 6 mic inputs, and four stereo inputs. No effects, but the preamps are wonderfully robust for the money and it's a fairly quiet live sound mixer. The 1604's used are a bit more (I got mine used for $500, so it's probably out of your budget). But the 1402 won't have any effects, but it will handle drum signals. I would avoid Behringer, Alesis, and Peavey for budget-minded consoles. Yamaha has a nice little console with effects but I think it only has 4 mic inputs, but those don't sound that bad, just not enough inputs for the money you want to spend. I guess the Yamaha O1v96 would be too high for you - those new are around $2100. But definitely worth it.

rmandelbaum · #9 11-29-2011, 03:54 AM

so in my opinion a mixer is not the answer, i would look for a Used Presonus Firepod.

8 individual tracks over firewire. if you go with a mixer you still will need to have a way to get the tracks into your DAW assuming you are going digital.

Davo-London · #10 11-29-2011, 02:10 PM

I've been looking for the same item and have yet to find the Perfect Box! The presonus below is for recording. I would like to use the interface for live as well.

Davo

longgun · #11 11-29-2011, 03:12 PM

Thanks to all replies....Going to check out the Mackie and the firepod. Hopefully I'll find something, seems like a waste to have the mics with no where to put them

Soupy · #12 11-29-2011, 05:08 PM

I've actually got a Firepod (which I'm not really using anymore) that I've used for recording drums. Works great, and they aren't too expensive used. I used mine with a Windows 7 PC and Reaper on the software side. Presonus has good drivers updated with Win7 support, which is nice. Never had any issues with it in this configuration.

If you have any questions about the Firepod I can probably answer them. I've listed my Firepod in the Classifieds thread if you're interested in going that route.

longgun · #13 11-29-2011, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soupy

I've actually got a Firepod (which I'm not really using anymore) that I've used for recording drums. Works great, and they aren't too expensive used. I used mine with a Windows 7 PC and Reaper on the software side. Presonus has good drivers updated with Win7 support, which is nice. Never had any issues with it in this configuration.

If you have any questions about the Firepod I can probably answer them. I've listed my Firepod in the Classifieds thread if you're interested in going that route.

Soupy, sent you a PM

rmandelbaum · #14 11-29-2011, 08:43 PM

A mixer with FireWire normally can do both

I have a Tascam DM-24 does it all ;-)

longgun · #15 12-05-2011, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmandelbaum

A mixer with FireWire normally can do both

I have a Tascam DM-24 does it all ;-)

I've read on some web sites that when you use a firewire mixer, it only shows up as two tracks on the DAW. Is that an issue?

Am I way off base with that. Please excuse my ignorance on this, as I am a recording noooooob.

rmandelbaum · #16 12-05-2011, 04:51 PM

you have it backwards

USB is only 2 tracks or 1 stereo, i believe they may have doubled that with USB 2.0

FireWire will do 24 tracks

longgun · #17 12-05-2011, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmandelbaum

you have it backwards

USB is only 2 tracks or 1 stereo, i believe they may have doubled that with USB 2.0

FireWire will do 24 tracks

Will all "firewire" mixers do 24 tracks, obviously limited by the number of inputs...... or is that the max capability of firewire?

Witterings · #18 12-05-2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longgun

Will all "firewire" mixers do 24 tracks, obviously limited by the number of inputs...... or is that the max capability of firewire?

I would imagine they're all the same, I believe it's the amount of data that can be transferred at one time across a firewire connection that's the limitation and I think firewire can carry more than USB 2.00
That said I can't think of a situation when you'd want to be recording 24 tracks at one time anyway ?????

#19 12-05-2011, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmandelbaum

you have it backwards

USB is only 2 tracks or 1 stereo, i believe they may have doubled that with USB 2.0

FireWire will do 24 tracks

I have a USB 2.0 Interface that can handle 8 in/8 Out. This perception that USB cannot handle audio is very outdated. USB 2.0 is theoretically the same bandwidth as the lesser Firewire protocol (400) although Firewire is probably a more stable option because of the controller chips on the port, rather than relying on the CPU as a controller.

Firewire 800 could handle 24 tracks quite easily.

You have to make sure you're getting the right Firewire. There are two forms of Firewire, 400 and 800. 800 can handle more although 400 can handle a decent load too. It's a very good protocol.

longgun · #20 12-05-2011, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witterings

IThat said I can't think of a situation when you'd want to be recording 24 tracks at one time anyway ?????

Yeah, the max I am thinking is 8-10 mics....not even sure about that many, I would just hate to be limited if I wanted to mic every drum and overheads.

longgun · #21 12-05-2011, 07:19 PM

What do you guys think of the Behringer XENYX X1222USB USB Mixer? Link is

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190599334023...84.m1438.l2649

Seems like a pretty good price for what you get.

longgun · #22 12-05-2011, 07:20 PM

What do you guys think of the Behringer XENYX X1222USB USB Mixer?

Seems like a pretty good price for what you get.

Soupy · #23 12-05-2011, 07:55 PM

USB 1 was basically meant for keyboards and mice, and did not have a lot of bandwidth. So USB 1 audio interfaces may well be pretty limited in their capabilities.

USB 2 and Firewire 400 both have approximately the same amount of bandwidth, 480Mb/s for USB2 and vs 400 Mb/s for Firewire. That's actually a lot of bandwidth, relatively speaking, so honestly, you're more likely to be limited by the device than the interface.